We do STEM at William & Mary. We’re good at it. We also do STEM outreach—offering a wide variety of programs to people outside of William & Mary.
“Doing” STEM means conducting research and also teaching science, technology, engineering and math in William & Mary’s excellent STEM programs.
The White House has stated that the country needs to produce 100,000 K-12 math and science teachers and one million additional STEM graduates over the next decade. Some of these STEM graduates will go through William & Mary’s own excellent STEM programs or those offered by other universities. A large number also are needed for advance manufacturing and other similar career paths that won’t necessarily lead through a traditional college program.
William & Mary is doing its part to fill the STEM gap through a wide variety of outreach programs to develop both interest and skills in STEM subjects. There are programs directed at K-12 students; others are for K-12 teachers. We offer still other programs geared toward the faculty of both community colleges and four-year institutions.
Federal agencies or private foundations support many of these programs. Others are grass roots, powered by scientists and students at the College who think that STEM is cool and want to show people why.
This is just one of many of William & Mary’s STEM-outreach stories. We’ve been doing STEM (and STEM outreach) since before it was an acronym.